Improvement in utilizing the silky down of the wild cotton



I of Boston in the county of Suffolk and State of ture, a quantity ofthe said silky down in or about j in the proportion of one pound of thedown to one pound of thelcotton, wool, or flax, and running the mixture.through a common cotton or'wool-picker and afterward subjecting it-(th'emixture) to the opera 'tions of a carding-machine. or engine, as wool orcotton is carded, thereby Ican so intermix the two mate,

substance or article of great value and use for being I union those ofthe seed-dpwn.

state of roving or sliver.

.. It i To a ll persons to whom these'prescnts may come:

cotton, silk-weed]? or swallow-wort, as ,usually described, as follows:i

{luster,'}thc base fabric serving to bind and hold in imixed with cottonor wool, has more or less of the the operations of the picker, whichalso thoroughly interminglesthe down with the fibers of the cotton orMICHAEL noDeE-siMPso or ios ron," MASSACHUSETTS.

Letters Patent No. 112,391, dated March], 1871.

IMPROVEMENF IN UTlLlZlNG THEH'SILKV DOWN OF THE WILD COTTON.

.ll'he Schedule referred to in'th'eee Letters Patent and making part ofthe same.

Be it knownthat I, MICHAEL Hones SIMPSON,

Massachusetts, have invented or discovered a new and useful manufactureor mode of utilizing the silky down of the seedsof .theAsclepias. lynaca'wild termed; and I do: hereby;declarethe same to be fully thevegetablefiber or silky down above mentioned, it has been found ditficult if notimpracticable to make a. useful or strong product from it on account ofits gloss and smoothness, and the consequent ditfieulty of causing thefibers to hold together. p I havediscovered that by combining or mixingwith cotton, wool, or flax, or a fibroiis material of like na-Vhenhretofore attempts .have been made tofspin rials as toproduce acombination or compound fibrous manufactured? into thread. or, yarn'andcloth. The admixture of the said seed-down with the base or additionalfibrous matter, whether the latter be either wool or flax, imparts tothe fabric a peculiarly silken The operations of the picking andcarding-engines prepare the fibers of the seed-down for being held toadvantage by and in connection with those of the cotton, or wool whenall arejtwisted together from the;

q The seed-down in its normal condition, or when first seeds inconnection with it. These alj cmovedby wool. i a

Subsequen tl y the carding-engine straightens out the fibers of the downand cotton or wool and prepares them forbeing drawn and spun.

are held from escaping with the seeds and dirt expelled from the fibersby the blast of the picker.

The above mode of utilizing the seed-down 'of the silk-weed iscalculated, from present appearances, to r develop in this country ahighly important branch of industry, especially the cultivation of theplant for manufacturing purposes, and its use in the arts to a greatextent in making various fabrics, in many of which it may advantageouslytake the place of silk.

' Although I have mentioned that the mixture of the down and bindingmaterial may be in the proportion of one pound of each, I-do not intendto limit my invention to such proportions, as they may be varied more orless, as circumstances may require.

.I make no claim to any composition of fibrous materials or mode ofcompounding, such as set forth in I There are important differencesbetween my method of procedure and any described in either of theaboverecited references. p

In neither of them is there found the said down containing the seedsmixed with a fibrous material, and together subjected to the action of apicker and afterward to a carding-engine, all of which is productiveofhigbly useful effects in the preparation of the down for beingconverted into a yarn or a fabric.

I therefore claim as my inventionr 1. [lhehercinbefore-described methodof treating the .Asclepias fiber or seed-down, as explained, such beingfor combining it, under circumstances as stated, with one or more otherfibrous matters, as mentioned, and

subsequently subjecting the mixture to the operations of a picker and acarding-engine.

2. The improved article: or

made of the materials and .in the manner as set forth.

M. H. SIMPSON.

Witnesses:

- R. H. EDDY, S; N. Prrnn.

am cm,

fibrous composition,

